It’s been just over a year since Sudan erupted into conflict, forcing 8 million people from their homes and 5 million people toward famine.
It started as an internal power struggle between two rival generals — Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces. But it has devolved into a complex humanitarian crisis — the fallout of which, according to testimony given on Wednesday to U.S. lawmakers, has remained invisible to the rest of the world.
“We don’t have a credible death count. We literally don’t know how many people have died, possibly to a factor of 10 or 15,” Tom Perriello, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, told a senate hearing on Wednesday. “Because of telecom blackouts, and because of the rampant harassment, abuse and detention of civil society actors, we have not always gotten a complete record.”
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
